1. Native Apple M1 Support
The biggest improvement in Live 11.1 is native support for Apple M1 computers. While this part of the update doesn’t include any new features, those running newer M1 Macs are reporting a significant performance upgrade.
Updating to 11.1 is a little different from the normal incremental update process. Rather than getting the update automatically through Live, you’ll need to update to version 11.1 manually. It’s also worth noting that any third-party plug-ins you have may not be updated to work on M1 Macs yet, so check with each individual plug-in developer before updating to keep using your favorite soft-synths and effects!
2. New Device: Shifter
The Live 11.1 update introduced a new device called Shifter for Ableton 11.1 Suite and Standard users. According to the Live 11 Release Notes, “Shifter is a multipurpose audio effect for pitch shifting, frequency shifting, and ring modulation.”
As the description suggests, Shifter is a powerful tool for changing the pitch or frequency of audio in real-time. It replaces the old Frequency Shifter device, adding new functionality and some fascinating options. Incoming audio can be further manipulated using the Tone filter and Window time parameters. There’s also a Delay parameter that can cascade pitch settings over a specific time frame.
Shifter has three different output modes. Pitch shifts the pitch of the incoming signal, Freq shifts the audio frequency, similar to the older Frequency Shifter device, and Ring is a ring modulator with a drive element that can get really crunchy.
One of the coolest features of this new device is the onboard LFO. Being able to add a low-frequency oscillator to raw audio brings a whole new world of Wobble to Live that was previously only available through MIDI instruments and third-party plug-ins. With very little tweaking, it’s possible to generate some incredible sounds using almost any audio source material.
Note: If you were particularly fond of the old Frequency Shifter presets, they can still be found under Core Library > Devices > Audio Effects > Legacy > Frequency Shifter.
3. Clip View Changes
Clip View has some quality of life changes too. Now, all clip properties default to displaying in vertical, collapsible tabs.
If you have the View > Arrange Clip View Panels Automatically menu setting enabled, clip properties will switch between vertical and horizontal arrangement when you resize the window. This is a really neat workaround for something that has been an issue for some time.
There are so many ways to manipulate clips in Clip View that it was easy to be overwhelmed by the menus. Now, you can get a broad overview of two menus at a time in horizontal mode, open them all with a scrolling sidebar in vertical mode, or just have one open and the rest collapsed, so you can focus on one clip parameter.
Clip View panels now have keyboard shortcuts. For MIDI clips, [Alt + 1] opens the Notes panel, [Alt + 2] opens the Envelopes panel, and [Alt + 3 ] opens the Note Expression panel. For audio clips, [Alt + 1] opens the Audio panel and [Alt + 2] opens the Envelopes panel.
You can also toggle Clip View to fill the screen with [Ctrl + Alt + E] on Windows or [Cmd + Opt + E] on Mac, or through the menu under View > Expand Clip Detail View.
4. New Max for Live Utilities
Two new Max for Live utilities are available for Live 11.1 Suite or for Standard with a separate Max for Live license, namely Align Delay and MIDI Shaper.
Align Delay takes an incoming signal and offsets it by a user-defined amount. This can be measured in samples, milliseconds, physical space, or command messages. MIDI Shaper creates modulation data via a visual envelope generator using keyframes, essentially adding rich modulation data that bring more life to incoming MIDI signals.
Should You Update to Ableton Live 11.1?
The updates mentioned here are only the most notable ones; there’s a host of other quality features to be discovered. Some of these include more keyboard shortcuts, improvements to the Live Browser, improvements to MIDI capture and multi-clip editing, and updates to already existing devices.
The update seems stable and we recommend it. For M1 users, it’s somewhat of a double-edged sword, however. You can upgrade to get the performance boost, but you might have to do some workarounds to get your favorite third-party plug-ins working.
